Motto

Sunday, 17 April 2011

Japan Gempa & Tsunami

20 Unforgetable Pictures

Japan Tsunami

In 1 of 20 unforgetable pictures of Japan's tsunami aftermath chosen by National Geographic photo editors, rescue team members carry the body of a man through splintered remains of the village of Saito on Monday.

The town is just one of many nearly erased from Japan's northeastern coast, where water, electricity, and telecommunications are largely unavailable.

As of Monday an estimated 350,000 people are reportedly homeless in the wake of Friday's magnitude 9 earthquake—Japan's biggest on record. According to the police chief of hard-hit Miyagi Prefecture, at least 10,000 are dead, the Washington Post reported.

Meanwhile, Tuesday morning (local time) brought fresh cause for concern from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, where emergency efforts to use seawater to cool one of three malfunctioning nuclear reactors failed temporarily, the New York Times reported. As water levels dipped, fuel rods were likely exposed to air, increasing the chances of melting—and of a catastrophic meltdown.

Add to this the threat of further earthquakes—the U.S. Geological Survey registered nearly a hundred aftershocks on Sunday alone—and, for now, there seems to be little light at the end of what Prime Minister Naoto Kan has called Japan's "worst crisis since World War II."

Leaving Home

Photograph by David Guttenfelder, AP

Path Through Destruction

Photograph by Damir Sagolj, Reuters

A survivor walks his bicycle through the remains of the devastated Japanese town of Otsuchi on March 14.

Tsunami-Tossed Boat

Photograph by Yomiuri Shimbun, AFP/Getty Images

A tsunami-tossed boat rests on top of a building amid a sea of debris in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on March 14.

Communication Barrier

Photograph by Yuriko Nakao, Reuters

A mother tries to talk to her daughter, who has been isolated due to signs of radiation at a makeshift facility in Nihonmatsu, Japan, on March 14. The daughter is among people evacuated from the vicinity of Fukushima's damaged nuclear plants.

Wave of Destruction

Photograph by Mainichi Shimbun, Reuters

A tsunami wave crashes over a street in Miyako City, Iwate Prefecture, in northeastern Japan on March 11.

Tearful Reunion

Photograph by Kimimasa Mayama, EPA

Tsunami survivors embrace to celebrate being alive in the destroyed city of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, on March 11.